Coach: Lady Eagles quick, look to improve
The Vilonia Lady Eagles should be “as good or better as we were last year,” when they won the first round of the state tournament before losing to Nettleton, coach Alvin Riley said. “I think as a team, we’ll probably wind up being better, but our record may not be as good because of this competition we’ve been thrown into by AAA (Arkansas Activities Association),” Riley said. “It was a tough conference last year; it’s tougher this year with Greenwood and Little Rock Christian,” Riley said. “Then Russellville’s got everybody back. By the end of the year, they were really good. We’ve got a pretty tough nonconference schedule, too.” Riley, who will be assisted by Jason Clark, has three returning starters, all young, but experienced at the same time. They are junior Paige Kelley, who averaged 14 points and 6 rebounds per game and moved up as a ninth-grader. “She was our leading scorer, leading rebounder,” the coach said. Sophomore Lauren Patterson was the second leading scorer with an average of 10.6 points per game. She also led in field goals at 58 percent and in free throws at 81.7 percent. Laney Mears, a sophomore, “moved up and played last year and was actually our third leading scorer and lead in assists,” Riley said. She had 74 assists for an average of 2.4 per game. “Even though they’re young, they’ve gotten quite a bit of experience at a young age,” the coach said. “They just have effort and quickness and shooting. “[Last season], our weak point was rebounding. We had one big girl; we weren’t tall after that. We hope to correct that [lack of rebounding] for this year. That was really the only area [where they were lacking]. Our shooting percentages were really good, and it made up for not being able to rebound like we should.” Riley said some of that can’t be helped, but the mental aspect can. “A lot of it is about height. A lot of it is getting them where they’re thinking more about going after the rebound,” Riley said. The three returning starters are college prospects, the coach said, and others on the team have potential. “We have some sophomores who will contribute, and who knows? They might become college prospects,” Riley said. “Every team’s goal should be — ours is — you take it one game at a time, but ultimately, you’re trying to win a state championship, and there are a lot of teams that are good enough to win,” Riley said. “It’s just who gets on a roll and who gets a break or two during the state tournament. We hope we’re in a position to be able to challenge for that. “You’ve got to get there first — so our first goal is to get there and then go, obviously, as far as we can.”